Instagram is quickly becoming one of the most popular social networks online today. And for businesses today, an Instagram marketing strategy is one of the most crucial marketing tools for any brand that wants to get the most from their social media marketing efforts. According to numbers from Statista, the popular social image sharing app has around a billion total active users each month, and it’s only continuing to grow. So, if your business doesn’t currently use Instagram, you’re definitely missing out.
Why Use Instagram?
With a strong Instagram marketing strategy, reaching out to and engaging with your target customers is easy. The idea behind Instagram marketing is not only for building your brand, but also to help you drive more business and increase your brand’s social value. When you look at the numbers, it’s clear to see that over half of Instagram users are millennials and Gen Z, with this social platform capturing an extremely valuable demographic for your business to get in front of. Instagram provides your business with direct access to a growing number of people who are willing and eager to engage with the right brands and make purchases. However, posting attractive images is not all it takes to be successful with marketing on this platform.
Define Your Instagram Marketing Purpose
As long as the objectives are clear, Instagram marketing can be put to work successfully for any business. No matter what you’re selling, it’s important to determine your core purpose before you get started in order to get the most out of this social platform. It’s important to focus on the specific business goals that you want to use Instagram marketing to help you meet, regardless of whether you are new to using Instagram for your business or have been posting content on this platform for quite some time.
Create Your Content Strategy
In order for your Instagram marketing strategy to be successful, it needs to be built on a strong content strategy. Before you get started with Instagram marketing, it’s important to formulate a solid content strategy. Instagram users are always on the lookout for content that is relevant to them and engaging for them at the same time. Taking the time to create an effective content strategy means that you will be in a better position to map out your route through Instagram marketing and gives you the clarity needed to come up with visual content that you know your target audience will find valuable and engaging. Figuring out the type of content that you’ll be posting as early on as possible will pay off, since everything that you post on Instagram is going to leave an impression on your target market, especially when it appears in your followers’ feeds. Consider what your target audience are going to be interested in most on Instagram to come up with content that creates the highest engagement rate.
Create Quality Content
Knowing what type of content you want to post to your business Instagram profile is just one part of the puzzle. When you have a sold strategy in place, you’ll notice that you’ll get a better response on Instagram. Because of this, it’s important to also focus on creating high-quality content that your target audience is going to enjoy enough to share with others. Visual quality is an important part of making your brand stand out on any social media, but especially Instagram. While the app offers various filters and basic photo editing tools to help your content stand out from the crowd, this isn’t usually enough. Even if you are taking photos for Instagram using your smartphone, it’s important to utilize tools to maximize the quality and create a professional, sleek image. There are several tools that you can use to create high-quality Instagram content, including Adobe Photoshop and Canva.
Create and Post Video Ads
Due to the rise of TikTok, short user-generated videos are quickly becoming one of the most popular types of content on the web. Short, engaging videos capture the attention of all types of audiences and, right now, Instagram is making the most of this. Instagram’s algorithms are designed to show users content based on a wide number of factors, including interest, when the content was posted, how frequently the user uses Instagram, and more. However, with the growing popularity of videos, Instagram’s algorithms are now favoring video content posted in IGTV and Reels, particularly when these are shared to feeds or in the Explore section. Posting more high-quality, engaging video content can help your business get content in front of more relevant users.
Add Calls to Action to Posts
When posting to your Instagram feed, stories, IGTV or Reels, don’t hesitate to add calls to action as Instagram users are very active when it comes to following them. While adding great photos and videos to your Instagram profile might help your business to gain more followers on this platform, adding a CTA wherever you can will help you to covert these followers into leads and sales. Adding a link to your bio is one of the easiest ways to do this; most often, this will be connected to your business website or online store. Once you’ve done this, it becomes easier to add a CTA to your captions to encourage your followers to check out the link in your bio if they like what they see in the post.
Create Exclusive Landing Pages
Finally, make sure that you create an exclusive landing page for any ad-generated traffic that comes from Instagram. While it might be easy to direct your ad traffic to your business website homepage or your online store, this will usually lead to mediocre results. Instead, build customized landing pages that extend the experience with elements from your ad matching with those on your landing page. This ensures that users visit a landing page that is completely relevant to your ad promotion.
Instagram is one of the best social platforms for customer engagement and conversions today. By applying these strategies to your posts and paid ads, you can level up your Instagram advertising strategy.
